My Recipe for Hawaiian Macaroni Salad (2024)

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This beloved recipe for Hawaiian Macaroni Salad, aka “mac salad,” has soft noodles, creamy dressing, and lots of shredded carrots. It’s perfect for a plate lunch, luaus, and barbecues.

Hawaiian Plate Lunch is based on the Japanese bento box: serving inexpensive food in separate compartments. Plate lunches were first served in the late 1800s, feeding immigrant workers in sugar cane and pineapple fields.

Workers from Portugal, the Philippines, Japan, China, and Korea all brought their culture to Hawaii, so the lunch plate is a true multi-cultural experience.

These days: plate lunch is usually 3 components (these are examples but not a comprehensive list):

1. Meat entrée: Pork Katsu, Kalua pork, a hamburger patty topped with a fried egg, Chinese-style pork, or salmon teriyaki. If you have more than one entrée, it’s often called a mixed plate.
2. White rice: Two scoops, and leftover cooked rice is just fine.
3. Hawaiian mac salad: Added later, when food trucks and roadside stands started selling plate lunches to the masses.

Recipe ingredients

Ingredient notes

• Apple cider vinegar: Adding cider vinegar to the cooked noodles to make them more absorbent so they hold the flavors of the dressing better. If you don’t love vinegar or feel unsure, omit completely or start with 1 tablespoon. Rice wine vinegar can also be used.
• Scallions:One white or yellow onion, grated on a box grater, may be substituted for the scallions.

Step-by-step instructions

1. In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil. Stir in macaroni noodles and cook until very soft (not al dente), about 15 minutes, stirring often.Drain well, transfer to a large bowl, and stir in apple cider vinegar. Cool at least 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together milk, mayonnaise, brown sugar, and salt and pepper to taste (I like ½ teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons pepper). Pour over cooled noodles and stir until evenly coated.

3. Fold in scallions, carrots, and celery and stir to combine.

4. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Recipe tips and variations

• Yield: This recipe makes 12 (1-cup) servings.
• Storage: Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
• Make ahead: Make this macaroni salad 1 day in advance. Stir to recombine before serving.
• Dry: If the pasta salad seems dry, stir in warm water, 1 tablespoon spoon at a time, to loosen.
• More mix-ins: Some cooks swear by adding green olives, chopped hard-boiled egg, finely chopped boiled potatoes, watercress, pickle relish, frozen peas, or even canned tuna. You could even add a protein like leftover chicken or ham (it’s not traditional, but it would taste DELICIOUS!).
• More sides: Fill out your BBQ menu with potato salad, broccoli salad, or even a fresh garden salad.
• Tropical Party: I wanted to create a Tropical Party menu, and I knew it wouldn’t be complete with Hawaiian Macaroni Salad. Coconut Shrimp and Pineapple Salsa are great snack options on the theme. Classic Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is a fun, retro dessert choice. For co*cktails, a Blue Hawaiian is a frosty blended drink that looks just like the ocean(but a Mai Tai or Piña Colada would be great, too!).